1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic component, and more particularly, to an electronic component including three or more LC parallel resonators.
2. Description of the Related Art
As an invention concerning an electronic component of the related art, a three-dimensional spiral inductor disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-190934 (FIG. 16a), for example, is known. This three-dimensional spiral inductor is a helical coil which is disposed within a multilayer body and which turns around a winding axis extending in a direction perpendicular to a stacking direction of the multilayer body. Such a three-dimensional spiral inductor is used in, for example, a low pass filter.
A low pass filter including three-dimensional spiral inductors is defined by a plurality of LC parallel resonators connected in series with each other, each being constituted by a three-dimensional spiral inductor and a capacitor. Since a three-dimensional spiral inductor is provided with a helical shape, the air-core diameter thereof is greater than that of a spiral inductor. Accordingly, with the use of a three-dimensional spiral inductor, a higher Q factor can be obtained than with the use of a spiral inductor, thus making it possible to reduce the insertion loss of a low pass filter.
In a low pass filter, three-dimensional spiral inductors are arranged linearly such that the winding axes thereof substantially coincide with each other. Because of this arrangement, the three-dimensional spiral inductors are positioned too close to each other, which intensifies electromagnetic coupling between the three-dimensional spiral inductors. This makes it easier for a high frequency signal to be transmitted between the three-dimensional spiral inductors in the low pass filter, thus failing to obtain a sufficient attenuation in a band other than a pass band of the low pass filter.